#487 An autumn chill in the air
A month ago, this church mouse was dragging his paws in the midst of a summer heatwave. A chill in my nose and the rustling of autumn leaves tells me that the summer heat is over and autumn is closing in. Goodbye to those long, lazy days: with the new school term and everything else that starts up again in September, it’s time to get to work. I’ll be looking for a hymn book: a bit of hearty hymn-singing always warms the whiskers…
Fr Sam writes
My journey of discovery in Wokingham has been continuing over the last week. On Sunday I got the full experience of worship at 8am, 9.30am and 11am across St Paul’s and St Nicholas’s, and I’ve been starting to get to know you all. Please do continue to help me with your names.
When a priest is ordained in the Church of England, the bishop reads a long list of all the things you’re supposed to be and do. At first you nod along, and then you get a bit worried, and by the end you can only laugh: no one can possibly do all this! But then the bishop turns to you and says, “You cannot bear the weight of this calling in your own strength. Pray earnestly for the gift of the Holy Spirit.” It is a crucial reminder that prayer is the heart of the Christian life, and of course public prayer is the heart of the life of a priest.
I certainly need prayer, and I want to invite you to pray with me. Morning Prayer takes place in the parish every weekday (Tuesdays and Fridays in St Paul’s at 9am, other days online at 8.30am). I will also be saying Evening Prayer each evening in St Paul’s at 5.15pm. If you wish to join me, you will always be most welcome.
But even if you don’t come to the public offices of Morning and Evening Prayer, please still pray: for me, for our community, for the world, and for yourselves. You may like to explore the Church of England’s daily prayer resources (online, or in app form on Apple or Android). Or you may find that’s not right for you. Could you find a time each day to pray very simply? To hold in your heart all that you need from God? Perhaps to say the words of the Lord’s Prayer?
You’ll hear a lot more from me on this subject, because the Church, in this and in every place, needs new life, and the only way new life ever comes into the Church’s life is through prayer.
Please pray for me, and know that I am praying for you.
Fr Sam
Rector
Revd Cara writes
Thank you all for my end of curacy present and flowers: the flowers are still going a week and a half later! The money has gone towards garden furniture, which is very much appreciated. More than that though, thank you for all your prayers and support over the last five years of curacy. It’s been such a joy to be here and serve, especially over this last year in the vacancy. And it’s even more lovely that this isn’t goodbye yet as I’ll be back to take services every couple of months when Fr Sam is at Woosehill. It really is the best of both worlds and I’m very grateful to God for all that has been and looking forward to all that will be.
Revd Cara
This Sunday
This Sunday we hear some of the most familiar of the parables Jesus told: the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, teaching us about forgiveness and the heavenly joy that comes when we return to God. There is a third act to the story that gets missed out: it’s the story of the Prodigal Son, which we never actually hear on a Sunday morning! If you can, it’s worth reading the whole of Luke 15 to get the fullest picture of what Jesus wants to teach us.
We also have two baptisms this Sunday, one at the 9.30 service at St Paul’s and another in the early afternoon. Please do pray for those to be baptised and for their parents and godparents.
This Sunday (13th after Trinity)
St Paul’s: 9.30am Parish Mass with Holy Baptism and 12.30 Holy Baptism (Fr Sam Tanna-Korn)
St Nicholas’s: 11am Community Eucharist (Revd Judi Hattaway)
Woosehill: 10am (Revd Wes Hampton)
Image: “The Good Shepherd”, Jean Baptiste de Champaigne, 17th century, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille
Season of Creation service
In a couple of weeks there is a joint online service between the two partner dioceses of Oxford and Växjö to mark the “Season of Creation”.
Click on the image or here to register for the online service
This week’s calendar: Lift high the Cross!
This coming week includes an important celebration: the feast of the Holy Cross. This commemorates the time when St Helena (the mother of Constantine the Great, who converted the Roman Empire to Christianity) went to Jerusalem and discovered the Cross on which Jesus died. Even if the historical case is a little tenuous, the celebration is important, because it is a moment to mark how important the Cross of Jesus is in our lives, and how we are called back to it every day.
As the hymn has it:
Lift high the Cross!
The love of God proclaim.
Let all the world adore his sacred name.
Image: “Christ Crucified”, Diego Velázquez, c. 1632, Museo del Prado, Madrid
